Rarely north to New York (Ref. 7251). Regular in northern Florida and North Carolina in 1953 (Ref. 6902). Found in lower Mississippi, Amazon, Atrato and San Juan rivers of Colombia, St. John river, Florida to Jacksonville, Chesapeake bay and New Jersey, (Ref. 6902). Numbers have catastrophically declined off the USA (Ref. 9859). In 2003 the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service has listed the smalltooth sawfish as endangered. As a result, the species will be protected under the Endangered Species Act. This was the first such listing for a marine fish in U.S. waters. Listing of the sawfish as endangered mandates that managers develop a recovery plan for the fish, and may designate and protect critical habitat for the species. Also Ref. 93252, 27549.